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My Favourite Thing

This is a bit of a cheat since this Favourite Thing intersects with things bookish. I’m just back from a writers’ workshop. A full week at Ocean Spray Apartments in Barbados where each night I fell asleep to the sound of the waves bashing against the rocks of Bim’s south coast and each day I sat half the day, with the rest of the day for my own pursuits in between one-on-ones with our tutors, with other writers under a gazebo alongside those ocean waves immersed in writing related learning. As I said in the review at the end, a Commonwealth sponsored, writer/editor Jacob Ross and sci-fi writer Karen Lord facilitated opportunity to re-learn things I know, learn new things, and be a part of a community of writers from across the Caribbean (St. Lucia, Grenada, Bahamas, Bermuda, Jamaica, my own Antigua-Barbuda, and, of course, Barbados) – learning together, drawing strength from each others’ experience, reading (yes, we had a joint public reading at which I made the last minute decision to read from my children’s picture book With Grace, the three copies I took with me now on shelves in Barbados and the Bahamas), laughing and eating (the food at Ocean Spray was so good and fresh, a rare blend of healthy and tasty) and beachcombing (though like Antigua, Barbados is currently having sargassum troubles) and shopping/window shopping and dancing (soca music for we soul) and eating (there was also a pizza night at author Ingrid Persaud’s beautiful home that was muah) and hiking (my legs are still mad at me for this one but they did enjoy traipsing up and down Coco Hill Forest – lush and rich with diverse plant life, just beautiful; again a side of Barbados I’ve never really seen and it is one of the Caribbean islands I’ve visited quite a bit, comparatively speaking). As I always say with my own small islands, there is always more to discover; it will take a lifetime and then some.

I return home feeling energized and motivated re my writing (having received specific feedback on works in progress, re-affirmation re my writing, and reminders that though it may often feel that way, re our experiences as writers/artists/creatives in the Caribbean region, we are not alone) – though already real life is starting to insist on my time (doesn’t it seem sometimes like life is trying to punish us for taking some us time?). I did take the day, on returning, to go to the beach with a friend – and there is no better way to recover from a sleepless night and an early morning flight. I will try to hold on as much as possible to the energy of the week that has been so far one of my favourite adventures of 2018.

This being a book blogging community, I will end by sharing that I finally finished Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers – what an interesting read. Check out my review.

Let’s try to stay positive, and pain free, motivated and energized. You and me both.